Courtesy of San José State Athletics
INDIANAPOLIS – The San José State men’s basketball team has secured a bid to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT), as announced by the NCAA Sunday night. The Spartans will compete in the prestigious tournament for the first time since 1981 and will make their second postseason appearance in the past three seasons.
The No. 4 seed Spartans in the San Francisco Region will open their NIT campaign at the Provident Credit Union Event Center hosting Loyola Chicago at 8:00 p.m. (PT) on Wednesday, March 19, with the game airing live on ESPN2.
This is the first SJSU men’s basketball postseason game ever held at the Provident Credit Union Event Center.
“This is an important step for the building that is going on with the SJSU basketball program,” said Jeff Konya, San José State’s Director of Athletics. “I trust Spartan Nation will fully support the team as they begin this journey, an NIT journey that has not been embarked on since 1981.”
The Spartans’ postseason berth marks a historic moment for the program, as it is only the second time in school history that both the men’s basketball and football teams have advanced to postseason play in the same academic year. The first occurrence was in 2023.
“We are excited about this postseason opportunity,” head men’s basketball coach Tim Miles said. “Our guys have worked hard all season and are ready to keep competing.”
San José State finished the regular season with 15 wins and it’s the most wins (45) over three years since the team won 46 games from 1985-88 while a member of the Big West Conference.
SJSU Postseason History
- 2023 – CBI First Round: Def. Southern Indiana, 77-52
- Second Round: Lost to Radford, 67-57
- 2011 – CBI First Round: Lost at Creighton, 85-74
- 1996 – NCAA First Round: Lost to Kentucky, 110-72
- 1981 – NIT First Round: Lost at UTEP, 57-53
- 1980 – NCAA First Round: Lost to Missouri, 61-51
- 1951 – NCAA Western Regional: Lost to BYU, 66-61
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